– K 6 –
ARMS ORDINANCE.
Table IV (a) shows Arms and Ammunition seized and confiscated during the year 1927.
Table IV (b) shows seizures classified according to places of origin.
TRAFFIC IN ARMS AND AMMUNITION.
1. General. Police have been unable to locate any definite arms smuggling agency in the Colony during the year, but the seizures made indicate that such agencies still exist, though their activities are somewhat reduced compared with previous years. The following paragraphs give a summary of the more important cases and seizures effected during the year.
2. On the 20th January, 1927, police found 11 revolvers and 49 rounds of ammunition on the S.S. "Ko Chow", about to proceed to Wuchow. Subsequent enquiries showed that the arms, which were old and rusty, were intended to be used for a projected piracy.
3. On the 23rd March, 1927, police searched the S.S. "Hopsang", which was about to proceed to Canton, and discovered 35 gunny bags containing in all, 20 Lewis guns with tripods and spare parts: 9 Spanish revolvers: one German automatic pistol: 380 rounds of revolver ammunition and 19,800 rounds of rifle ammunition. Police could not obtain any definite information, but it was alleged that the arms and ammunition were shipped at Shanghai, and were destined for Canton for delivery to a political party unknown. Police enquiries were hampered by the fact that the ship had been pirated on her voyage down from Shanghai. The Lewis guns, which were manufactured by the Savage Arms Company, Utica, New York, were embossed with the mark of the United States Naval Department dated 1917, but enquiries by the Chief of the United States Naval Operations, through the United States Consul-General at Hong Kong, and the Commander of the United States South China Patrol (whose representative examined the guns) revealed no useful information.
4. On the 15th April, 1927, European Revenue Officers searched a Chinese marriage boat in the harbour and seized 6 automatic pistols, with spare magazines, and 690 rounds of ammunition. Five persons were arrested, of whom one, a quarter-master of a Blue Funnel ship, was convicted and sentenced to three years' hard labour.
5. On the 21st July, 1927, the master of a harbour sampan was convicted for possession of 24 revolvers and 3,600 rounds of ammunition. Police enquiries showed that the arms had been smuggled into the Colony on board a French Mail boat from Marseilles, and were probably destined for Canton. No particulars could be obtained concerning the manufacturers of the revolvers.